“Usually we don’t make news at this meeting,” Sanderson said. “But today we’re going to make some news for the first time. We wanted to do it with our shareholders.

“Today, I am pleased to announce that we have selected sights in and near Palestine, Texas for our next poultry complex.”

The company plans to build a feed mill, hatchery, a big bird de-boning complex and wastewater treatment facilities, Sanderson said. The plan is similar to what was on the table for Nash County, a two-year process that led Sanderson Farms to buy property for a hatchery and Nash County leaders to offer an incentive package that included a 150-acre site.

Sanderson’s Kinston plant, its first in the state, opened in 2010. The nation’s third largest poultry producer, the company has eight other plants in Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia and Texas.

“Texas has been an outstanding place to do business and we are looking forward to expanding into Texas and to the new marketing opportunities the new facility will create,” Sanderson said. “Of course, the new facility remains on hold until we get some visibility around the price and availability of grain and is subject to various contingencies including obtaining necessary permits, entering into construction contracts, obtaining necessary growers and final approval of our board of directors, once market conditions improve.”

Robbie Davis, a Nash County commissioner involved in the county’s recruitment efforts of Sanderson Farms, said he expected the company to pick a site in either Texas or Georgia. The announcement was no surprise to Davis, who said he knew the company needed to select a plant site soon in order to meet future production demands.

“The reason they had to give up on us is they had to start a plant because of market share,” Davis said. “Their sales have increased where they don’t have enough capacity.”

Sanderson officials abandoned the plan to expand in North Carolina with a second plant in Nash County after company leaders could not receive confirmation that legal issues surrounding the project would end. The city of Wilson filed two of three unsuccessful lawsuits that challenged the Sanderson project. All the cases were in the process of being appealed.

The city of Wilson was concerned about the potential impact on the environment, primarily area watersheds, which provide the city with its public drinking water supply.

“It’s very sad,” Davis said of Thursday’s announcement. “We desperately needed it. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the project. There never was a danger to the watershed, whatsoever. In the end, it was the 1,000 jobs we so desperately needed. It is a sad day for the three-county area in Nash, Edgecombe and Wilson.”

Sanderson Farms planned to invest $95 million in the Nash County project and create 1,100 jobs. Sanderson Farms would have been one of the largest taxpayers in Nash County.

Sanderson Farms operates two plant locations, in Waco and Bryan, in Texas.

The company plans to invest close to $124 million on the construction of a feed mill, hatchery and processing plant in Palestine and will hire close to 1,000 workers, according to the Palestine Economic Development Corp.

“This project is a long-term capital investment and will be the third complex of this nature built in Texas,” said Wendy Ellis, economic development director for the City of Palestine Economic Development Corporation. “Sanderson Farms has a reputation for being an outstanding corporate partner wherever they are located.”